Well, we spent several hours tonight in a nearly completely dark house, trying desperately to avoid the trick or treaters who insist on coming up to our door, even though the lights are all out and the doorbell is disconnected. Terry even thinks he heard the first batch try the doorknob! Cheeky little fellows, aren’t they?

Our neighbor’s property was toilet papered last night. Glad it wasn’t us; that would have really ruined my mood to wake up to that this morning. 🙂

A productive day, even if I didn’t get my workout time on DDR. 😉 I still cleaned out half of the garden, threw away all of the dead hanging and other potted plants on the porch, took Phoebe for a walk, chatted with the guys across the street, made ranch cream cheese rollups for consumption some day this week, made dinner, did some dishes, took a picture of my Heirloom Memories sampler in progress and finished stitching an old project that I found the other day. I started stitching this purse kit for my mother several years ago (apparently, back when I wasn’t as fastidious a stitcher) and since there was only backstitching left to do, I decided to finish it for an additional Christmas present for her for this year. I finished the stitching tonight and posted a scan. I also posted a scan of the Heirloom Memories sampler. I haven’t touched it since earlier this week, but it’s still coming along nicely.

And I just received a new model stitching project this weekend – WOOHOO! I’m very excited about this one, as the colors are all my favorites and it’s my first hardanger model. Only problem is that I only have one set of scroll bars available and they’re not long enough, so I’ll have to run out (hopefully tomorrow) and buy another set. I could use an additional pair of side bars anyway; I only have two.

I have a presentation to give tomorrow that I haven’t really prepared for, so… that’s all folks!

I’ll keep it brief today. Terry put down the mortar and installed the tiles on the bathroom countertop. Manufacturing quality issues with the tiles keep them from being completely perfect, but I should learn to deal with less than perfect anyway. Tomorrow may be grouting day.

In the meantime, I played over 30 stages of Dance Dance Revolution Max in workout mode. I received a new model stitching project today, so I unpacked and reviewed the chart and materials. I need to go and buy another scroll rod set, of course, since I have one set of bars open but they are too short. In the meantime, I’ve picked up an old Christmas project that I started years ago for my mom. I think it’s close enough for me to be able to complete it this year.

Whew, am I glad that it’s Friday! Don’t get me wrong, I have work work and house work to do this weekend, but still… at least I won’t be chained to my desk for the next two days. 🙂

Have you ever pondered whose brilliant idea it was for us to work for 5 days in a row and then have just 2 days to refresh, rejuvenate and regenerate? Yes, I know, farmers and others work all 7 days. But I’m not a farmer – it’s darn hard work!

Anyway, I’ll try to make the most of the weekend while I have it … and try not to whine too much when Monday morning comes.

Yet another post on VsCyberstitchers, and a good one at that! A small economics lesson for the day.

“Understanding Tax Cuts” by: David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D

Sometimes politicians, journalists and the liberal left exclaim; “It’s just a tax cut for the rich!” and it is just accepted to be fact. But what does that really mean? Just in case you are not completely clear on this issue, I hope the following will help. Please read it carefully.

Let’s put tax cuts in terms everyone can understand:

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for dinner and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

An elderly Florida lady did her shopping and, upon returning to her
car, found four males in the act of leaving with her vehicle. She
dropped her shopping bags and drew her handgun, proceeding to scream
at the top of her voice, “I have a gun, and I know how to use it!
Get out of the car!”

The four men didn’t wait for a second invitation. They got out and
ran like mad. The lady, somewhat shaken, then proceeded to load her
shopping bags into the back of the car and got into driver’s seat.
She was so shaken that she could not get her key into the ignition.
She tried and tried, and then it dawned on her why.

A few minutes later, she found her own car parked four or five spaces
farther down. She loaded her bags into the car and drove to the
police station. The sergeant to whom she told the story couldn’t stop
laughing.

He pointed to the other end of the counter, where four pale men were
reporting a car jacking by a mad, elderly woman described as white,
less than five feet tall, glasses, curly white hair, and carrying a
large handgun. No charges were filed.

Yep, that’s pretty much all I did today. Thrilling, isn’t it? I thought so, too. However, I did finish 3 bands on the Heirloom Memories sampler for my grandmother. That’s something. I’ll try to post a photo of the progress sometime this week.

Our planned drive to Atlantic City for dinner with friends to celebrate the birthday of the first friend in our group to turn 30 (not me!) was a no-go for Terry and me today. I woke up with a stuffy head, a headache and generic achiness. Of course, this was after falling asleep sometime before 10 PM last night and not waking up until after 11 AM this morning. I don’t usually sleep like that, so it’s usually a good sign that I’m fighting something off.

I got up, ate some breakfast, took some DayQuil and Terry gave me some birthday presents. He gave me the rest of my loot after breakfast, at which point the achiness was all gone, but my stomach had started to hurt and I was beginning to feel strange. So, back to bed for a couple of hours and then I woke up feeling even worse than when I laid down. Now, here I am, as weak as a newborn kitten, sucking down soup and crackers and feeling like my mind and my body are not quite connected.

Ugh! Not the greatest way to spend a birthday, but I had a good day yesterday and I’ll see if I have the energy to make up for it tomorrow. In the meantime, at least I have two new video games to play. Well, Dance Dance Revolution will have to wait until I feel better (no dancing around for me right now!), but Haunted Mansion is a good one for sitting on one’s behind. 😉

Well, I didn’t feel the best this morning when I woke up, but I didn’t feel too badly, either. Just some colitis problems which I just nipped in the bud with medicine before we even left the house. Breakfast at McDonald’s, then on the road by about 9 AM. The drive was only an hour an a half, which surprised me, so we ended up getting there only a half hour after the shopping mart opened to the public (CATS members get in an hour earlier). Bought two tickets, wandered around for a few minutes and just barely got a seat for the free Zweigart fabric lecture. Wow, people weren’t kidding when they say they give out a bunch of samples. Everyone received a full catalog, showing all of the available colors and fabrics, then samples of a dozen or so fabrics. Jim, the Zweigart rep., was great and I actually learned a fair bit about their fabrics in listening to him.

We walked around for two hours and I spent the $100 that I had brought (though $14 of that went to admission for the two of us), but I still had two hours before my meeting time with Robbin and Sandy from the VSCyberstitchers Yahoo group, so we went for lunch and killed over an hour that way. By the time we got back, I perused a little bit more in the shopping mart and then it was 2:30. Robbin and Sandy were both lovely ladies, but I expected nothing less. 🙂 Robbin’s mother-in-law was a quiet riot. Her badge said she was from Middlesex in the UK, so I’ll have to ask Robbin about that sometime. We all talked for a little bit and then Terry and I left for home. We were home by 5 PM, so it pretty much felt like a regular day, just with 3 hours of driving instead of half that for our normal commute.

Barring me feeling completely crummy when I wake up tomorrow morning, which would just bite, I think I’m ready to go to Hershey. 🙂 The festival opens at 10 AM, so if we can manage to leave around 8, we should get there just about at the opening. I’m getting a little bit more excited now. I just hope that I can manage to get into the Zweigart fabric free lecture that someone went to in Santa Clara or Riverside earlier this year. They gave out free samples and, being the fabric collector that I am, that would be right up my alley!

I just have to fill my time for four and a half hours, until 2:30 PM, when I’m scheduled to meet up with a couple of ladies from the VSCyberstitchers Yahoo group. I hope I fit in – I’m one of the youngest in the group, so I’m going to feel a little wierd. But, it is what it is and I am who I am, so we’ll see. I just have to remember to bring a camera!

But now it’s getting late and I need to pack some projects to stitch during the car ride and make sure I’m ready to go. Woohoo! I already said this yesterday, but I’ll post if I have enough energy. Otherwise, I’ll try to post on Saturday (my birthday), if I have a chance before we have to drive to Atlantic City.